There are many ways to launch a bold new era in local government You can do it with competence.You can do it with planning.You can do it with proper communication between the authorities involved and the contractor actually expected to empty the bins. Or, if you are Shropshire Council and Oswestry Town Council, you canContinue reading “Devolution Day: Welcome to Rat-Run Localism”
Author Archives: Omnipresence
WHY?
Or: how Shropshire Council managed to bankrupt public confidence before it quite finished bankrupting itself There is a point in every public scandal where the official language collapses under the sheer weight of its own dishonesty. We are well past that point in Shropshire. The question is no longer whether councils are under pressure. TheyContinue reading “WHY?”
They Broke It. You’re Paying. And Here Are the Names
There is a well-rehearsed trick in local government. When something works, there are photographs, press releases, and smiling faces.When something doesn’t, it becomes a “collective decision”, wrapped in process and gently lowered into obscurity. Shropshire Council’s grandly titled “devolution of services” now sits firmly in that second category. Because this didn’t just happen. It wasContinue reading “They Broke It. You’re Paying. And Here Are the Names”
The Great British Farm Tax Fudge
Three Ways Starmer Can Lose the Countryside Labour’s farm inheritance tax changes have now reached the High Court, not because anyone in Westminster suddenly discovered a conscience, but because farmers say the Government failed to consult properly before meddling with family succession. For Shropshire, where farming is woven into the county’s economy and identity, theContinue reading “The Great British Farm Tax Fudge”
Cornovii and the Comfort Blanket Committee
Cornovii Developments Ltd is Shropshire Council’s wholly owned housing company, set up in 2019 amid talk of housebuilding, quality control and financial return. It was presented as a bold instrument of delivery and a sensible bit of municipal enterprise. It has since acquired the more familiar local-government aroma of opacity, mission drift and soothing quarterlyContinue reading “Cornovii and the Comfort Blanket Committee”
Cornovii, Kettel and the Questions Shropshire Council Now Ought to Answer
This is not an allegation of wrongdoing. It is a public-interest article asking for clarity about public assets, public decisions, and public money. Shropshire Council and the Promise of Transparency Shropshire Council says it remains committed to transparency. Splendid. In that case, what follows should be very easy to answer. Material supplied to The AlternativeContinue reading “Cornovii, Kettel and the Questions Shropshire Council Now Ought to Answer”
Planning for Profit
Who Shropshire’s Housebuilding Boom Is Really For There is something almost touching about the way large housing developments are sold to the public in Shropshire. A field is selected. A map appears. A developer starts speaking in that warm, managerial tone about “meeting need”. Councillors murmur about “balance”. Officers reach for policy references and beginContinue reading “Planning for Profit”
A History of Oswestry Councils from 2009 Democracy or Democrazy?
I thought it may be fun to look back at the defining moments of Oswestry’s political history. How time flies when you are entangled by local government. Fifteen years after Oswestry’s old borough council was shovelled into the dustbin and unitary Shropshire took over, the town has seen Conservatives, Greens, Lib Dems and independents allContinue reading “A History of Oswestry Councils from 2009 Democracy or Democrazy?”
Cornovii: The Supervisors, the Directors, and the Question That Will Not Go Away
At yesterday’s Shropshire Council meeting, a question from a member of the public, Andrew Sceats cut through several years of carefully managed explanation surrounding Cornovii Developments Ltd. Mr Sceats asked why many residents had been left with the impression that Shropshire Council would receive financial returns from Cornovii not only through land sales, but alsoContinue reading “Cornovii: The Supervisors, the Directors, and the Question That Will Not Go Away”
The Elephant Is Still in the Room
How Decisions You Never Saw Became Bills You Cannot Avoid This is not an insider discussion. It is not a conversation for those already steeped in council papers and committee minutes. This is about understanding how decisions made quietly over years eventually arrive as very visible costs for residents. What follows is not theory. ItContinue reading “The Elephant Is Still in the Room”